Recently, following the vitalization of various leisure activities, such as sports and mountain climbing, which cause one to perspire a large amount, men, as well as women, have taken greater interest in functional innerwear, such as underpants.
According to medical reports, when a temperature of the scrotum of a man is about 33.5° C., the scrotum generates the healthiest sperm, and when the temperature of the testicles in the scrotum rises even by 1° C., the function of the scrotum may deteriorate. Further, if a temperature of the scrotum rises by 35° C. or higher, a risk of aspermia has been documented (reported by a research team of Dr. Patrick Tono: Laboratory for male-sterility in France Toulouse, June, 2000).
Especially, when the male sex hormone is produced in abundance, men are healthy and active. However, when a man wears existing triangle-shaped underpants (briefs) or quadrangle-shaped underpants (boxers), the penis instantly descends again due to the space between the penis and the scrotum. As a result, the penis is in contact with the testicles so that heat is generated, and when the penis and the testicles sweat, various bacteria are generated thereby generating a bad smell, and when the penis is unclean, this exerts a bad influence on the health of the uterus of a woman as well.
Therefore, it is necessary to research and develop the underpants for men to be segmented through a design based on the human engineering such that the penis is prevented from being in contact with the scrotum, and previously functional underpants have been researched and developed by many researchers.
An example of the functional underpants for men is proposed in Korea Utility Model Registration Publication No. 20-0248176 (hereinafter, referred to as ‘invention 1’) and Korea Utility Model Registration Publication No. 20-0346580 (hereinafter, referred to as ‘invention 2’).
In invention 1, underpants 1 include corrugated portions 3 formed at a central part and left and right sides of a front surface of the underpants 1 by tightly sewing left and right sides of a predetermined portion in a streamlined shape, and a first protruding portion 3-1 in which the penis (A) can be positioned on an upper side of the corrugated portions 3, and a second protruding portion 3-2 in which the scrotum (B) can be positioned on a lower side of the corrugated portions 3. Therefore, the underpants 1 can prevent the penis from leaning to the scrotum region or the groin region to prevent the sweating caused by the direct skin contact, thereby preventing skin inflammation, such as eczema (see FIG. 1A).
Further, in invention 2, underpants include an inner cloth 20 and an outer cloth 10, and the inner cloth 20 positioned in a central portion within the underpants is formed to be shorter than the outer cloth 10 such that the inner cloth 20 accommodates only the penis, not the scrotum. The inner cloth 20 is formed of a spandex material having resilience or a band 30 having enough strength to maintain a supporting state is attached to the lower end of the inner cloth 20. Further, when the inner cloth 20 and the outer cloth 10 are sewed while being set on the inside of the outer cloth 10, a bending portion corresponding to a line of the penis and the scrotum is formed in the outer cloth 10 and the inner cloth 20, so that the penis can be always separated from the scrotum while a wearer wears the underpants and thus the air is well ventilated (see FIG. 1B).
However, the multiple corrugated portions 3 and the first protruding portion 3-1 among the constitutional elements of invention 1 can sufficiently hold the penis (A) such that the penis (A) faces the hypogastric center under the navel in a state of the moderate erection of the penis (A). Otherwise, when a wearer strenuously exercises or greatly moves, there is a high possibility in that the penis (A) leans toward the left or right side or descends to the groin side again.
Further, among the constitutional elements of invention 2, the inner cloth, which is formed and sewn to be bent together with the outer cloth, is characterized in that it is formed of a spandex material having resilience or the band 30 is attached to the lower end of the inner cloth so as to separate the penis from the scrotum. However, in investigating the function of separating the penis and the scrotum of invention 2 including the above cloth as the constitutional element in detail, it can be seen that the cutting shape of the spandex material or the shape of the inner cloth fails to have the portion that is sufficiently bent, and the penis and the scrotum are almost supported and separated substantially by the band. Therefore, in invention 2, it is essentially required to add a band in manufacturing the underpants, thereby causing an increase in the number of processes, and an increase in manufacturing costs. Further, the function of separating the penis and the scrotum may be changed depending on the material of the used band and if the material of the used band is not good, it may cause the unpleasant feeling of a wearer as well.
Especially, in investigating inventions 1 and 2 in more detail, in order to completely surround the scrotum through ‘the second protruding portion 3-2 and a rear member surrounding a hip portion’ (see invention 1) and ‘a scrotum support portion and a rear portion of the outer cloth’ (see invention 2), the lower portion of the second protruding portion and the upper portion of the rear member are connected by means of sewing, or the lower portion of the scrotum support portion and the upper portion of the rear portion of the outer cloth are connected by means of sewing. In this time, a curved portion and a section having a predetermined size r (a curvature) should be formed such that the members simultaneously applies contractile force and tension to the penis region and the scrotum region while a wearer wears the underpants. However, the actual underpants do not have the above configuration. Therefore, inventions 1 and 2 still have a problem in that when the two testicles of the scrotum having different sizes contract/expand according to personal physical changes, there is no interoperation between the scrotum and scrotum support member that can be generated due to the gravity applied to the testicles of the scrotum since the scrotum support member cannot completely surround the scrotum, and the scrotum may apply pressure to the groin region, thereby causing a sexual health problem according to a failure of the obtainment of air permeability.